Israel Convoy - back on earth
shalom once more-
and a greeting from underneath the mighty oaks, that overshadow the trailer site of lüneburg, germany (..and are more like a shelter from the rain these days!)- a good reason to skip back time a bit, to let you guys know about the last days in the holy land, the way back, as all things come to an end some time- and is just the door to new adventures with god, in fact.
anyway- israel. palestine. people, shared moments, talks we had, times of prayer that we could spend together and with others:
that´s what our last days were about, and yet so much more…
for some of us these days meant also to spend some time on their own, for emma, who went saying good bye to her friends while others went to the palestinian cities of nablus and ramallah or spent another couple of days on the land of the tent of nations project to support them in practical ways, too-
and hanging out with the people on zion square, what is the nightlife focus of downtown jerusalem.
chatting and sharing with the punx and the freaks hanging out there every night, listening to their stories and sharing about what had brought us into the scenery of the night, doing some worship with them or spontaneous a-capella freestyle sessions, that were as unique as each of these amazing people..
and still: being astonished at the surprises, god comes up with again and again-
like our last afternoon on the mount of zion, when our beautiful host ibrahim showed up with a couple he picked up in the old town by simply talking to them and inviting them for a tea at his home-
and who turned out to be al and tina from the states, with whom we had stayed in contact before and just knew, that they were about to come to israel these days- and in his generous kind of arabic hospitality, ibrahim brought us together just on the day we wanted to leave..
..and spent our last night all together and with some of the friends we got to know in israel, the more or less accidently ending up in a celebration of the jewish jom kippur day that was held before the actual day already-
sitting on the steps with the punx, behind us chanting the head rabbies of jerusalem, in front of us hundreds of praying orthodox jews- sometimes it´s quite amazing to see where you end up, when you lay everything into the guidance of gods spirit.
then, finally, it were lina from france, maren from the jf berlin, till from lüneburg ( and thanx sooooooo much for the three of you!!!!!!!!!) and me who, started the way back to the north, boarding a cargo ship from haifa that could take the van, and made within one week the way from pireas/ greece thru macedonia. serbia, croatia, slovenia, austria to lüneburg, having the towing service to pick us up standing next to us for the fourth and final time just 150 km from lüneburg- and decided in the end to go with the van instead of taking the rental car they offered us, since the problems with the transmission that occured finally had started in croatia already-
and god somehow completed the circle by carrying us and the ford until lüneburg, while i had doubted already, that it could make the way to the first garage we went to back in croatia…
it´s an amazing god, who´s sharing our lives.
who sent us out without anything but his promise, that he would take care of us on this outreach-
provide us with everything we might need when there was no sign of any kind of financial foundation for a trip like this one-
bring us to the place he called us to when we spent more time under the cars than within them-
use us to build his kingdom and to touch his children when we had no concept at all and felt more like a bunch of random freaks than the mighty warriors of the almighty, and israel was still thousands of kilometers away-
it´s the story of god´s faithfulness, that enlightens every moment of the convoy.
and as well the growing into his likeness, to be more and more able to see people with god´s own eyes:
seeing them beyond the borders of the conflict, beyond their ethnical or religious backgrounds, and being able to share the beauty of a god-given moment with jews, muslims and us christians together:
to build bridges and platforms of sometimes the first communication between neighbours:
to serve people, but way more often: to let them serve us, invite us, share the few they have with us- that we can tell the stories of them, open doors and hearts for understanding, and continue this mission here to overcome the fears and predjudices, that often enough just result from a lack of communication and knowledge about `the other´…
this time definitely blessed us. and i truly believe, that god used us to bless others, too, and that he is about to continue this work he started with us- to change people´s lifes,
but as well to keep constantly changing our lifes as well, transforming us more and more, and: to let us feel, how much everyone of us needs it.
to seek god´s voice more and more, seek to listen to him and his heart, going out into the world with him, and to step out in faith into the darkness that lays over the water-
and to experience the ability to walk on it, as long as we keep holding jesus hand.
what is left…..
……..more than words could ever express. gratefulness, especially FOR ALL OF YOU WHO STOOD BEHIND US IN PRAYER; SUPPORTED US FINANCIALLY; CARRIED THE VISION WITH US- you guys are the real heros!!!!!
toda, shukran + dankeschön to all of you!!
keep praying for god´s peace in this region, a revelation of him to the main figures in the conflict like ehud olmert or hassan nasrullah, for the unity of the christians down there, who are our brothers and sisters, and never refrain from praising the god who´s with us all the time!!
truly love you!
hope 2 c u, keep in touch, go with more people next time- inshallah
for the i/p- convoy, matthias (back in the cold and grey..)
P.S: for those of you, who didn´t receive the sixth update (there were some technical problems, and for some reason not everyone got it), just write us, and we´ll forward it to you!!
and, finally, who wants to carry some of our last expenses (we´re still a bit in debts)- thanx
Am 26. Januar 2010 um 15:56 Uhr
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Am 26. April 2010 um 00:45 Uhr
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